Soon after, James arrived with Emily.
\nI noticed the ring was gone from Emily\u2019s finger.
\nShe walked into the kitchen with familiar ease, laughing and chatting with Mrs. Miller.<\/p>\n
James sidled up to me, proudly producing the ring.
\nHe lied without blinking: \u201cTold you it was in the car.\u201d
\nAs if unaware of my mood, he took my hand and slipped the ring on my finger.<\/p>\n
I stared at the ring and suddenly felt sick.
\nHow many times had he told lies like this?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, Emily, let Luna handle that. You\u2019re a guest, you shouldn\u2019t be working!\u201d In the kitchen, Mrs. Miller looked at Emily with affection.<\/p>\n
Emily hugged her arm, act coquettishly:
\n\u201cAuntie, I missed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMissed me and yet you never visit? I think you forgot about me and James a long time ago.\u201d
\nMrs. Miller glanced at me and walked over with Emily.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, Luna, I haven\u2019t formally introduced you. Emily is my goddaughter, so James\u2019s sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have nothing to worry about. In the future, when James goes out with Emily, don\u2019t check up on him so much. Don\u2019t you trust James\u2019s character?\u201d
\nShe stood before me, her tone carrying a hint of command.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, Luna,\u201d chimed in Mark, James\u2019s best friend and the biggest supporter of the \u201cJames & Emily\u201d pairing\u2014also the one who forgot to block me last time.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou checking in all the time really kills the vibe. We\u2019re all decent people. We wouldn\u2019t lead James astray.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBesides, our startup just got off the ground. It\u2019s a hectic time. Everyone is busy during the startup phase.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the big deal coming home a little late? Emily ended up in the hospital last week from drinking with clients!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they wanted to be together, they would have been long ago, Luna. Just relax!\u201d<\/p>\n
He never liked me. Seeing me scolded by an elder, he happily piled on.
\nI frowned. \u201cWhat company? What startup?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wasn\u2019t James doing fine at his old job? When did he start a business?
\nRealizing his slip, Mark immediately shut up. The others fell silent too.<\/p>\n
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella\u2019s storytelling style is immersive and addictive\u2014perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.<\/p>\n
Time Paused Between Silent Moments by Aven Slate 3 Soon after, James arrived with Emily. I noticed the ring was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-goodbye-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23160\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}